The present invention relates generally to a beverage dispense device. It is particularly concerned with a device for the dispense of a chilled beverage, for example a chilled beer or lager, and will for convenience below be more specifically described with reference to beer or lager.
Conventionally, beers and lagers may be chilled before being served at a dispense nozzle or spout. The cooling systems used typically have a bulk beverage supply located at a separate location from the bar counter, such as a cellar room or walk-in cooler. The beverage is chilled in the cellar by being passed through an ice bank cooler to a temperature just below its ultimate dispense temperature. The chilled beverage is then pumped from the cellar room to the bar within an insulated python.
If one wishes to dispense a carbonated beverage at very cold temperatures e.g. below 0xc2x0 C., increased problems of carbon dioxide break out can occur. When the dispense tap is opened, there is inevitably a pressure drop in the beverage being dispensed so that some of the carbon dioxide dissolved in the beverage comes out of solution. The colder the beverage is at the dispense point the greater the potential for carbon dioxide breakout and it is quite possible that the foaming that this causes renders impossible the presentation to the customer of a satisfactory glass of beer or lager, for example. Moreover, there is also a greater risk of the beverage freezing during the dispense because of the carbon dioxide break out.
It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide a dispense device which is capable of successfully dispensing a chilled carbonated beverage at lower temperatures than have conventionally been used, e.g. at a temperature close to the freezing point of the beverage, without freezing and without excessive break out of carbon dioxide.
Accordingly, the present invention provides a beverage dispense device comprising, a nozzle, a valve comprising a valve seat and a closure member, the valve being opened and closed by movement of the closure member out of and into contact with the valve seat to allow or prevent flow of the beverage through the nozzle, and a flow regulator between the valve seat and the nozzle, the flow regulator being adjustable to control flow rate through the nozzle and being in the form of a core member movable in a flow passageway downstream of the valve seat and spaced from the valve seat, the core member and flow passageway having matching tapering surfaces.
The flow regulator downstream of the valve effectively provides a back pressure to the beverage being dispensed and thereby provides an adjustable pressure drop to which the beverage is subjected when the valve is opened. This adjustment can be finely tuned to optimise the dispense conditions for any particular beverage. Preferably the valve is an electrically-operated valve and is preferably a solenoid valve but it may be, for example, a stepper motor controlled valve. Preferably the device has a flow channel for the beverage on the downstream side of the valve seat, which channel widens, i.e. increases in area, as it gets further from the valve seat and nearer to the exit point from the dispense nozzle. The flow regulator, comprising a core of tapering exterior surface which taper matches that of a tapering flow passageway on the downstream side of the valve seat, preferably tapers so as to narrow towards the valve seat. The flow channel is then defined by the gap between the core and the wall of the flow passageway. The core sits movably in the passageway so that when the valve is opened flow takes place through a gradually widening annular channel defined between the surface of the core and the interior wall of the passageway. The position of the core is adjustable, i.e. it can be moved nearer to or further from the valve seat, as circumstances require, whereby flow rate through the nozzle when the valve is opened may be decreased or increased. Thus, the pressure drop to which the beverage is subjected on dispense through the nozzle can be adjusted as required according to the nature of the beverage, its temperature and its degree of carbonation.
The core may be integrally formed with or otherwise attached to means to adjust its position relative to the valve seat. In a particularly convenient embodiment the core is formed integrally with the spout, i.e. nozzle. The means to adjust the core position may be any convenient means. For example, screw-threaded means may be mounted on the integral spout and rotated to make the required adjustment. In an alternative embodiment the adjustment may be by means of a stepper motor, for example. Where a stepper motor is used for this purpose it may have the dual function of also opening and closing the valve.
The invention herein enables beers, lagers and other carbonated beverages to be dispensed at lower temperatures than would otherwise be possible without excessive carbon dioxide break out and risk of freezing. Thus, by way of example only, the dispense device of the invention is particularly useful for the serving of beers or lagers at temperatures below 0xc2x0 C., e.g. as low as xe2x88x924xc2x0 or xe2x88x925xc2x0 C. The device of the invention enables the dispensing system to maintain sufficient back pressure to prevent these break out and freezing problems.